Must scan device after each startup

I installed a dual serial port card in a PCIe slot in my Acer i7 desktop, Win 10 Home. It works until the computer is restarted, then device manager lists the ports as hidden and says they are not physically connected. If I right click the device and scan for hardware changes, they will work until the next time the machine is shut down and restarted. The manufacturer suggests putting them in a different slot, but that is not helpful as there is only one PCIe slot. Can anyone suggest a way of fixing this or, alternately, is rhere a way to force windows to scan devices for hardware changes at each startup? Thanks for any help.

modernhistorian said:

I installed a dual serial port card in a PCIe slot in my Acer i7 desktop, Win 10 Home. It works until the computer is restarted, then device manager lists the ports as hidden and says they are not physically connected. If I right click the device and scan for hardware changes, they will work until the next time the machine is shut down and restarted. The manufacturer suggests putting them in a different slot, but that is not helpful as there is only one PCIe slot. Can anyone suggest a way of fixing this or, alternately, is rhere a way to force windows to scan devices for hardware changes at each startup? Thanks for any help.

Hi there, modernhistorian. Welcome to Windows TenForums.

Sounds to me like it may have not physically seated correctly in the slot, Try reseating it. Or Windows isn't retaining the settings in the Registry. Did you install, boot it up, and did Windows install a driver? It should have configured all that. Try uninstalling the device in Device Manager and reboot to see if that does it. Look in System Information to see if you can see any conflicts hardware wise.

HippsieGypsie said:

Hi there, modernhistorian. Welcome to Windows TenForums.

Sounds to me like it may have not physically seated correctly in the slot, Try reseating it. Or Windows isn't retaining the settings in the Registry. Did you install, boot it up, and did Windows install a driver? It should have configured all that. Try uninstalling the device in Device Manager and reboot to see if that does it. Look in System Information to see if you can see any conflicts hardware wise.

HippsieGypsie, thanks for your prompt response. The card fits at a right angle to the back of the PC, and the latching device won't close unless the card is seated, so I don't think that's it. But I'll try taking it out and putting it back. The card is not plug and play; Windows did not recognize it or install drivers. The maker's installation program installs drivers and the ports then work fine, until the PC is restarted. If I uninstall it using device manager, it won't be recognized on reboot. If I then reinstall with the maker's app, it says that it hasn't been uninstalled! using the maker's uninstall app will let me reinstall with their app, but that brings me back to the starting problem.

I haven't found anything in the registry that as to do with this. System information just refers me to device manager. I will try physical reinstall. Any other ideas?

modernhistorian said:

HippsieGypsie, thanks for your prompt response. The card fits at a right angle to the back of the PC, and the latching device won't close unless the card is seated, so I don't think that's it. But I'll try taking it out and putting it back. The card is not plug and play; Windows did not recognize it or install drivers. The maker's installation program installs drivers and the ports then work fine, until the PC is restarted. If I uninstall it using device manager, it won't be recognized on reboot. If I then reinstall with the maker's app, it says that it hasn't been uninstalled! using the maker's uninstall app will let me reinstall with their app, but that brings me back to the starting problem.

I haven't found anything in the registry that as to do with this. System information just refers me to device manager. I will try physical reinstall. Any other ideas?

You're welcome. At this point it may not be the solution, but try the physical reinstall to see how that goes. It could be just one pin that isn't connected. If that doesn't work, then I would say perhaps something is wrong with the device and/or driver on your particular MoBo? I simply can't understand why Windows won't hold it's settings. At least you got this far to narrowing down the problem. A physical reinstall would tell for sure. If that doesn't work, then I would contact the manufacturer again. Perhaps a different device would be in order? Perhaps try an older driver?

Remember to unplug the PC and hold down the power button for a bit to release any static electricity. Refer to your manual. Good luck.

When it's working check the IRQ, DMA memory setting if it's conflicting with another device it won't be detected